Roof covering



1,483,046 G. RITTER ROOF COVERING Filed March a" 1922 HQ Z 2Sheets-Sheet, 1

I N VEN TOR. WITNESSES:

I BY .6 Hiiiez;

ATTORNEYS,

Q George Rzli-Zer,

/.w I 4TTORNEY 'FB; 5, 1924; r 1,483,046

e. 'RITTER ROOF COVERING Filed March 8, 1922 FIG T1:

2 Sheets-Sheetfi II I w l L WITNESSES:

Patented Feb. 5, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE BITTER, 0F PERTH AMBpY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE BARBER- AS- IPHALT PAVING COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OFWEST VIRGINIA.

ROOF COVERING.

Application filed March 8, 1922. Serial No. 541,892.

This invention relates to roof coveringsand more particularly toshingles of the character which are fabricated from sheet material of afibrous nature,treated with bituminous material to impart weatherresistant qualities thereto, and to render them flexible and non-porous.

An object of the invention is to provide shingles of the character aboveset forth embodying a new and novel means for locking or engaging theexposed corners of the overlying shingles with the adjacent edges ofthose underlying so as to compel the shingles to lay flat and tightagainst the roof, preventing to a great extent the entrance of moistureor accumulation of snow thereunder. These and other objects areaccomplished by what I now believe to be the several most preferredembodiments of my invention and all of which I have illustrated in thedrawings forming part of this application, in which:

Fig. I is a 'view in plan of a fragment of a roof covering consisting ofoverlaid shingles embodying my improvements.

Fig. II is a view in perspective of the improved shingle per se,viewing. the same from the underside.

F ig. III is a view in plan, of a metallic locking member to be used inconnection with the shingle. p

Fig. IV is a view in plan of a strip of locking members in integralformation.

Fig. V'is a view in plan of an assemblage I of locking members securedin proper relative positions showing the shingles in dotted dium of myimproved locking devices, when the latter are fabricated and used in theform of a strip.

Fig. IX is a detail, fragmentary view of the folded end of a shinglillustrating a modified form of the invention in which the lockingmember is permanently fixed to the shingle; and

Fig. X is a view in section taken on the line 'XX of Fig. IX.

With reference to Figs. I, II and III, of the drawings, 10 indicates ashingle, substantially square in outline and composed preferably offibrous sheet material such as paper, felt, etc., treated withbituminous substances and having its exposed surface coated with crushedslate, or the like, to im part wear resistant qualities thereto. Onecorner of the shingle is folded over to form a tab 11 which is designedto lay flat against the underside of the shingle and to create athickened edge 12 along the fold or crease of the tab, said creased edgeconstituting the exposed end of the shingle and by reason of thethickness of the edge supplying a so called shadow line to a roofcovered with these shingles, thereby relieving the same of themonotonous fiat appearance usually associated with a shingle roof. Alocking device is provided for each shingle consisting of a plate 13 ofrigid sheet material, preferably metal suitably coated, plated orvarnished to prevent corrosion. The plate is deformed bystamping orotherwise to expand the middle portion beyond the plane of the endsalong two lines disposed at relative right angles to form a center ormain portion 14: of triangular formation bounded by the two walls 15,equal in height to the thickness of the shingle, and the two triangularcorners or ends 16 constituting interlocking means to engage the edgesof adjacent shingles. The main or center portion 14 of the device isslipped under the tab 11 or folded corner of the shingle as shown in Fig. II and held loosely therein, seating the tab between and within thewalls 15 and the base edge 17 of the locking device against the innerfold of' the tab, so as to dispose the ends 16 of the device in spacedrelation to the underside of the shingle, and placing the outer faces ofthe said corners 16 and the outer face of the tab 11 in substantiallythe same plane. Attention is directed to the fact that the edgesof thelocking.

member are all enclosed within the outline or edges of the shingle anddo not project therebeyond. The shingles. are laid in courses parallelto the eaves of the roof, in relative diagonal relation as shown in Fig.I, and the succeeding courses are laid thereover partly overlapping eachother, the shingles of one course being staggered relative to those ofthe next, producing a honeycomb designand enabling the adjacent edges ofa pair of adjacent shingles of a course to be received within the spacesbetween the corners l6 and the underside of an overlapping shingle ofthe next course, thus causing the folded or exposed corner of eachshingle to lay fiat and tight, and prevent the edges of the shinglesfrom curling up under wind pressure or as a result of frequent expansionand contraction due to temperature changes. The corners 16 of thelocking member are thus engaged beneath and against the underside of thesaid pair of adjacent underlying shingles. The fastening elements 19 aredriven at the middle corners of the shingles, penetrating the shinglesalso therebeneath. For convenience in manufacturing or using the abovedescribed locking devices they may be fabricated in an integral mannerin the form of a strip 20, shown in Fig. IV, scored or otherwise treatedalong the uniformly spaced, transverse lines 21 to define the lockingmembers which are ultimately separated by breaking them from the stripalong said lines 21.

I have illustrated in Fig. V of the drawings, the relative arrangementof the locking devices after the shingles are properly assembled, therelation being made particularly clear by showing the shingle in dottedlines.

Figs. VI and VII illustrate a slightly modified form of metallic lockingmember which is differentiated over the first form only to the extent ofchanging the form of the end portions to a rectangle as shown moreclearly at 23 in Fig. VII. The formation constitutes an enlargement ofthe end portions to afford a better grip upon and to extend beneath thecorners of the edges of the shingles against which they are engaged whenassembled as shown in Fig. VI. It will be noted that the outer edges ofthe end ortions 23 follow the outline of the shingle. If desired,fastening elements 21% may be driven through the corners of the shinglesin the positions occupied by the fasteners 19 of Fig. I, penetrating theends of the locking members therebeneath and then entering theunderlying shingles, and the roof sheathing. This is only suggested asan additional means to safeguard theshingles from dislodgment and maynot be employed if not desired as the fastening means penetrating thecorners of the shingle only, and not the locking plate willbe sufficientunder ordina iy circumstances.

he locking arrangement described above, especially when the lockingelement is fabricated in the form of a strip, lends itself especiallywell to the rapid laying of shingles without the necessity of previouslyplacing guides, chalk lines or the like. This feature is shown in Fig.VIII wherein 25 indicates a metallic strip which is expanded atintervals to form the offset portions 26 corresponding to the portions14 of the first described form of locking element and defining theangularly disposed walls 27 corresponding to the'walls 15. The ortions26 are spaced between centers to a distance corresponding to thediagonal width of the shingle. In edge view, the strip is undulating,defining alternately placed, relatively long offsets and alternaterelatively short.

offsets. Before laying the first course of shingles, a strip 25 is laidon the roof parallel to the eaves with the short offsets 26 extendingupward. The shingles are now placed over the strip, corner to corner,with the lower edges rest-ing snugly against the walls 27 of theoffsets, the latter constituting stops to properly locate the shinglesand to align them into astraight course. A second strip- 25 is now laidparallel to the first strip but lapping over the upper corners of theshingles. The strip may now be secured in place by driving nails 28 intothe material at points midway of the offsets 26, and the shingles maylikewise be secured in place by inserting nails at their middle corners.The next course of shingles is now laid b inserting the folded corner 11of each s ingle beneath an offset 26 of the first strip 25 then fittingthe edges between adjacent offsets 26 of the second strip 25, andfinally driving nails into the middle corners. The shingles of thesecond course are thus centralized relatively in two ways, viz: by theinsertion of the folded corners in the offsets of the lower strip and bythe localization of the shingle between the offsets of the upper strip.The use of shin 1e guides are thus eliminated. It will also e noted thateach shingle is individually held against movement in an direction,since the interlocking action 0 the folded corner prevents the shinglefrom moving toward the ridge, and the walls of adjacent offsets preventthe shingle from moving toward the eaves, or laterally. Obviously,shingles laid in this manner afford as stable an aggregate of units asit is possible to effect, except by an integral uniting of the elements.

In actual practice the shingles,.shown in both the preferred andmodified forms may be shipped or transported, as from manufacturer toconsumer, or b the consumer from a place of storage to t e site ofbuilding operations independently of the metallic locking members, thelatter being transported separately and the shingles and locking memberslater assembled by the artisan. This possibility of separate handlingrenders the present invention extremely valuable by expediting buildingconstruction and ensuring economy in the cost of transportation, as wellas inducing other advantages which Will be readily apparent to thosefamiliar with this art. However, it may be desirable at times to includethe metallic locking member as a permanent part of the shingle and thetwo manufactured in that manner. This may be accomplished by securingthe locking member to the tab as shown in Figs. IX and X in which aU-shaped staple 29 is provided and its terminals driven through theinner face of the tab and through the center portion of the lockingmember, and then clinched on the outer face of the tab by bending theterminals of the staple toward each other.

It will be apparent that by slight modification the various lockingmembers described above may be adapted for use in connection withrectangular shingles by folding under the exposed ends and slippingwithin the fqlds a metallic locking member designed especially to coactwith the edges of adjacent shingles in interlocking relation.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An article of manufacture embodying a strip of material having itssurface scored at uniform intervals to provide detachable sections, eachof said sections having an intermediate portion of triangularconfiguration expanded beyond the plane of said strip for receiving thefolded over corner of a shingle.

2. A roof covering comprising an aggregate of unit shingles laid instaggered overlapping courses, a strip of material laid between adjacentcourses, and means on the strips and shingles coacting to lock eachshingle between an overlying and underlying pair of strips.

3. A roof covering, embodying an aggregate of unit shingles laid instaggered overlapping courses, a strip of material laid between adjacentcourses, and expanded portions formed along each strip at intervalsspaced corresponding to the width of each unit shingle whereby toreceive a shingle point in each of said expanded portions.

4. A roof covering comprising an aggregate of unit shingles laid inoverlapping courses and in diagonal relation, the exposed corner of eachshingle being folded under, and a strip of material laid betweenadjacent courses and contiguous to the run of the courses, said stripshaving spaced portions expanded to form recesses on one side of thestrip and stops on the other, whereby the folded corners of the shinglesmay be received within the recesses, the stops constituting means toproperly localize the shingles when they are laid.

5. In combination, a flexible shingle having a corner bent under to forma flap, a fastening member in the form of a plate fitting within thefold of a width to extend from the fold to a point short of the top ofsaid flap, angularly directed ends following the contour of the shingleon said fastening member, and means securing the center portion of theplate to the shingle flap.

6. A new article of manufacture embodying a metal strip having itssurface scored at uniform intervals to form detachable sections andexpanded portions between each adjacent pair of such intervals formingrecesses, said sections when separated from the strip along the scoringsconstituting looking members for shingles.

7. A flexible shingle having a corner bent under to form a flap, and afastening means comprising a plate of a length to extend from end to endof the fold and of a width to extend from the fold to a short of the topof said flap and loosely held within the fold.

8. A flexible shingle having one corner bent under to form a flap, and afastening means comprising a plate inserted within the fold of a widthto extend from the fold to a point short of the top of said flap andhaving its ends formed to follow the contour of the shingle.

9. A flexible shingle having a corner bent under to form a flap, afastening member in the form of a plate held within the fold of a widthto extend from the fold to a point short of the top of said flap, andhaving angularly directed ends following the contour of the shingle.

10. A flexible shingle having a corner bent under to form a flap, afastening member in the form of a plate held within the fold and havingend portions for engagement beneath the edges of underlying shingles,and a staple securing the center portion of the plate to the flap.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Maurer, N. J.,this twenty-first day of F ebruary, 1922.

GEO. BITTER. Witnesses:

FREDERICK B. CANN,

FRED L. HERB.

point

